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Beijing. A Chongqing official said to be on stress-related leave but rumored to have sought US asylum did visit an American consulate, Beijing and Washington confirmed yesterday, as talk of a power struggle remains rife ahead of a top leadership transition this year.

Wang Lijun, vice-mayor and former police chief of Chongqing whose boss is high-profile provincial chief Bo Xilai, had met United States consulate officials in Chengdu on Monday, according to State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland.

“The meeting was scheduled, our folks met him, he did visit the consulate and he later left the consulate of his own volition,” Nuland told a daily press briefing in Washington.

She stressed the Chinese official left voluntarily to refute unverified reports that he was escorted away by Chinese police. But she fended off queries about the asylum rumors, saying the US does not comment on such issues.

In Beijing, Vice-Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai confirmed the consulate visit when asked at a media briefing on Vice- President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US.

He called it “an extremely isolated case” that has already been “resolved.”

“It has nothing to do with the visit by Vice-President Xi,” he told reporters.

Late last night, Xinhua reported that Wang was being investigated for staying for a day at the US consulate.

He is also rumored to be the subject of a disciplinary probe by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Wang has been the subject of much speculation since it was announced on Wednesday that he was on medical leave for stress. Only days earlier, he had been dismissed as police chief, the sacking sparking talk of a falling out with Bo.

The rumors surrounding Wang, who spearheaded his boss’ controversial crackdown on crime and graft in Chongqing, come at a delicate time for Bo. The Communist Party chief of Chongqing, a south-western municipality with 32 million residents, is widely expected to be promoted to a top party post later this year.

When the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and political advisory body start next month, the high-profile Bo can expect to be subjected to even more media scrutiny than usual.

“Bo will face a lot of embarrassing questions at the National People’s Congress, perhaps further denting his credibility as a can-do, charismatic leader,” Hong Kong-based political analyst Willy Lam told The Straits Times.

Analysts say Bo’s foes may have launched a probe on Wang to hit out at Bo.

Many believe it will hurt Bo’s chances of making it into the elite Politburo Standing Committee, which now has nine members. They had previously fancied his chances of getting a place.

“According to Chinese personnel principles, the No. 1 cadre of a region is responsible for the political rectitude and good behavior of subordinates,” said Lam.

“So if Wang is indeed subject to corruption-related investigation and charges, Bo has to bear political responsibility,” he added.

Political scientist Zhang Ming of Renmin University agreed.

He told the South China Morning Post: “Although no one expected the day to come so quickly, it will virtually mean the end of Bo’s political future and the bankruptcy of the so-called Chongqing model.”

Bo’s ‘Chongqing model’ of development is characterized by its emphasis on boosting domestic consumption and investment as well as residents’ socialist values which hark back to Maoist days.

He has drawn criticism from liberals even as he won praise for his fight against the mafia in Chongqing, often disregarding the rule of law.

With Wang so closely associated with Bo’s clampdown on crime and graft, his downfall is likely to cast a pall over the latter’s record in Chongqing.

In response, Bo has tried to burnish his achievements: The China Media Project, a Web site which monitors media coverage in China, noted that party paper Chongqing Daily ran a front-page article yesterday boasting how safe and happy residents were. It also said Chongqing’s fight against the mafia was widely affirmed by society and security officials.

Chinese netizens, meanwhile, continued to discuss the case of Wang, with some recalling the case of Lin Biao, Mao Zedong’s chosen successor who died in a plane crash in 1971 apparently while trying to defect to the Soviet Union.

But some analysts say it was too early to tell if Bo’s chances of making it into the elite leadership were doomed.

It is unlikely that top Chinese leaders would disavow the Chongqing model, given that most have said good things publicly about it, said Bo Zhiyue of the National University of Singapore.

Nor is Chongqing’s party chief likely to be pulled up for investigation, like former party chiefs Chen Xitong of Beijing and Chen Liangyu of Shanghai, who had offended top leaders Jiang Zemin and Wen Jiabao respectively, he added.

“Bo’s anti-mafia (campaign) was not aimed at the families of the top leaders, so there is no reason for them to conduct an investigation against Bo,” he said.

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.